Prayer Ribbons and Swamps
by SassafrasTea
Summary: A case of mistaken identity binds two who would otherwise not cross paths. (JiraTsu) Alternate Universe


She was a priestess.

Correction, she was once a priestess.

Once she'd fought for the Daimyo of the Land banishing demons and healing soldiers with the rest of her clan. Once she'd stood surrounded by the bodies of all she held dear and cursed at fate for taking them from her. Once she'd burned her ancestral home to the ground and donned the clothes of a wanderer.

- But that was a long time ago.

The die were as cold as her heart tonight. Tsunade watched the cup shake with jaded eyes before the dealer dropped it to the ground and called out bets. She pushed the last of her marks forward hands steady despite the sake she'd indulged in. She was going to lose, she always lost.

"Even"

The dealer grinned showing a golden bicuspid. They'd made a killing off of the blonde woman who walked into town marks in hand and head held low. She hadn't won a single bet in two days. If he had been an empathetic man, he might have felt sorry for her. If he'd been a curious man, he might have asked why she came to this run down and gang ran town. But he was neither and had taken her money gleefully.

The cup lifted and his mouth opened already starting to call odds before he focused and spoke in a non-believing tone. "Even it is."

Tsunade jerked. She didn't win. She never won, not in gambling not in life. Something was very, very wrong. "Double the bet. I call even again."

He did and gave the die an extra shake for good measure. If she won back all they had taken from her, his boss was liable to kill him. The cup dropped and they both watched half a feared as it was lifted back.

A five and a three

"Well lady it looks like your luck is turning, here are your winnings." He said swallowing a gulp that turned into a sigh of relief when she grabbed the money and rose. He'd keep his head and his take this night.

Tsunade donned her heels before pulling her jacket tighter. She needed to leave, to walk on and leave the shit hole of a gambling town behind before whatever was going to happen happened. Her steps were quick as she made way to the edge of town and the serene wooded path beyond. She'd try a mountain village next time, somewhere high above the clouds and farther away from the past that haunted her.

She was less than ten feet from the gate when the trouble she was trying to avoid caught her.

"DEMON!"

The words brought a reaction she'd thought long forsaken. Heels turned and her hands clapped together. A sound came from between them, not the smack of palm against palm but a bell ringing. The temples of old chiming as the seal she'd kept hidden away sprang to life to glow hotly in the center of her forehead.

The Demon ran towards her, or rather hopped on his Toad beast. Tsunade pulled her hands apart, a ribbon written with prayers to banish evil, measured between them. Knees bent slightly before she took a running leap, throwing her arms wide to wrap the demon in a prayer-ed embrace. Lips parted as she chanted voice low and even, threaded with the power of her bloodline.

"I bind you back to darkness demon. I bind you with light and my words bind the evil in you."

The last thing Tsunade expected was to have the demon that should be writhing in agony, laugh at her. Eyes glanced up startled before narrowing when a hand dropped to her derriere. "Those are pretty words Priestess. If I was a demon you'd have me shaking in fear."

Jiraiya of the Swamp was god so minor he didn't even get invited to the good parties. Whether it was due to his lecherous ways or minor role in the grand scheme of things the toad deity spent most his days spying and writing novels that he was proud to say were banned in nearly all the feudal lands.

He'd been on a so called research trip, a brothel in one of the shady gambling towns when over excitement on his end had him dropping his cover as a wealthy foreign visitor. Gold had turned to mud and he'd summoned a toad to get the hell out of town with his neck still intact.

He'd never considered a priestess would be here, never mind one strong enough to ring sacred bells and brave/dumb enough to attempt to banish him. She was pretty thing though, he wouldn't deny that. Eyes that gleamed like honey and light colored hair. The breasts pressed against him were large and curve of her buttocks under his hand shapely.

Of course he would have enjoyed it more if not for the prayer ribbon wrapped around him and her very un-priest like curses.


End file.
